Pull up a chair. We’ve got a YA novel that hits harder than most adult fiction on the shelf this season.
A Second Chance starts with two best friends — Mikaila and Chara — and one person who quietly decides to come between them. Asa isn’t obviously a villain. That’s the point. He’s polite. He’s strategic. He works on Mikaila slowly, chipping at her confidence until she can’t see what her friend has seen for a while: “I realized he didn’t like me. He liked the control he had over me.”
Asher Frend sets this against Maryland and Connecticut beach towns — the kind of setting that should feel easy and free, which makes the creeping tension even more effective. You’re watching something go wrong in a place that’s supposed to be perfect.
The book is told from multiple perspectives, with Mikaila’s first-person narration driving most of the story. She’s competitive and spirited — not a passive victim — and that makes the manipulation feel more real. This isn’t a story about a girl who didn’t know better. It’s about how good people get slowly reoriented. Dated chapters build toward a conclusion that earns its resolution rather than just arriving at one.
There’s a thread of faith running through the story that never feels preachy. It’s more like a quiet resource the characters carry — something to return to when they don’t know what else to do. Fathers and daughters navigate their own version of second chances alongside the central friendship, which gives the book more emotional range than the premise suggests.
This is clean YA fiction with real stakes. No shock value, no nihilism — just an honest look at what betrayal does to a friendship and what it takes to come back from it. Perfect for readers who want something that respects their intelligence without putting them through the wringer.
The US Review of Books calls it RECOMMENDED, and we’d say the same without hesitation.
Get your copy: A Second Chance on Amazon
What reviewers are saying:
“I realized he didn’t like me. He liked the control he had over me.” — US Review of Books
About Asher Frend
ASHER FREND writes clean young adult fiction with a thread of faith, a sharp edge of suspense, and characters who are trying to do the right thing when it would be easier to walk away. Their stories blend coming-of-age pressure with real emotional stakes, then build toward hope without pretending life is simple. When Asher is not writing, they are usually spending time with their spouse and son and getting out for long walks to clear their head and untangle the next plot problem.